


Your Lips Taste Like Heaven and I Wish They Didn't

by Sunahra



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Communication Failure, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Handholding, Kissing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Slow Burn, These dorks, Unresolved Sexual Tension, for like a tiny while, just pure fluff after a tiny little bit of angst, klance, space boyfriends, terrible awful flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:51:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7701028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunahra/pseuds/Sunahra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith likes Lance and Lance likes Keith. They're idiotic drama queens who are dense af.<br/>(Or Lance's natural instinct when he sees Keith is to fight or flirt. Either way Keith feels weird and pink.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my second fanfic and like my first fic, it's about space boyfriends. Shit, I love these dorks so much. Even though Shiro is bae #1.

Keith remembered Lance from the the Garrison. Actually, he didn’t remember _Lance_ as much as he remembered Lance’s scent. The sweet, perfect mixture of gasoline, sweat, and cologne that smelled like an artificial ocean. It was just intoxicating for some reason. Keith just wanted to bury himself in that aroma and he knew it wasn’t sane but he didn’t care. However he had only ever briefly smelled that inebriating smell because Lance and him were strangers. And no matter how pleasant the guy smelled, Keith wasn’t going to go and invade a stranger's personal space.

Then Keith left the Garrison and he tried his hardest to just forget about everything. He had managed to even almost forget that damn smell. He definitely wasn’t thinking about it was much as he used to and he had other things to worry about anyways. He had almost completely forgotten about that stupid scent, but then Lance showed up in all of his _ladykiller_ glory, claiming to be his rival or whatever.

Keith was training right after coming back from a mission. He was tired and according to his internal clock, it was pretty late but Keith didn’t care. He had to get stronger because after forming Voltron, he always felt weak. He felt too dependant on the super weapon. He knew he had to make himself stronger to let Voltron reach it’s potential and he knew he had to be stronger to not feel like the weakest link. He hadn’t yet called for the Gladiator, but he was going to. Soon. Right after this short break. Well, not _right_ after. Keith was tired. He supposed he could sit there with his eyes closed for a while. Just a little while. Just a few ticks. Just a few sec―

When Keith came to, he was in his room, tucked into his bed. He was utterly confused for a moment before he noticed Lance sitting at the foot of his bed, asleep. The idiot was drooling, his head resting against the wall. Keith found himself smiling because Lance looked at peace and his mouth was shut. Which meant he wasn’t talking and that was all Keith had ever wanted in life: just one moment where Lance doesn’t spout bullshit. Shit, his goals for life were ridiculously low and Keith wondered just what that meant for him as a person.

Keith sat up, trying to get a closer look at Lance. He actually looked pretty handsome when he wasn’t talking. Yes, he looked ridiculous with drool dripping from his parted lips, but he still somehow managed to look attractive as well. His lips, while wet, were pink and full. Just perfectly kissable. Keith wanted to feel them pressed against his own. No, he didn’t. Not at all. He didn’t want this stupid poopface to kiss him. Keith shook his head, wishing that the thoughts would literally just fall out of his head, and went back to studying Lance. More specifically, his lashes. Long, flowing, silklike. If only Keith could run his fingers over the―Nope. Nopity, nopity, no. Keith cut off his thoughts before they went to _that_ place. He decided to stop staring at the dolt and to finally wake him up.

“Dickhead, wake up,” Keith slapped Lance spasmodically until he saw those honey colored lashes flutter open, like wings on a butterfly, revealing those sapphire eyes.

Blue met purple and for a few seconds, they just stayed like that: just staring into each other’s eyes, faces uncomfortably close. Then Lance fully awoke and let out an ear piercing yelp. “What the hell, man! Were you trying to kiss me?”

Keith rolled his eyes and pushed the blue paladin off his bed. Lance landed on his ass, glaring up at Keith, “ _This_ is how you thank someone who carried you to bed all the way from the training deck?”

“The training deck isn’t that fa―Wait! What? You carried me here?”

Lance gave him his best _Duh_ look, “How else would you end up in your room? Did you think you sleepwalked here?”

“No―it’s just I didn’t think your twig arms could carry me. Are you sure it wasn’t Allura or Pidge? Hey, I think I remember something about the mice?”

Keith felt a sharp pain in his shin as Lance smirked up at him in that not at all hot way, “Still think my twig arms couldn’t carry you?”

“That was barely a punch. I could punch harder than that while I’m sleeping.”

“Well I just thought that you’d start crying if I actually punched you!”

“Then why don’t you actually punch me now?”

“Only if you promise not to cry.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “ _I promise_.”

“You promise to what?”

“ _Ipromisenottocry._ ”

And Lance proceeded to punch Keith’s shin again and oh shit it really hurt, but like hell he was gonna let it show. Keith scoffed and began to speak in perfect monotone, “Wow. You’re so incredibly strong. How can I be strong like you?”

“C’mon,” whined Lance, “I _know_ that hurt.”

“How? Did you hurt your fist or something?”

Several moments passed without a response from Lance and Keith’s eyes widened as a smirk played at his lips, “Don’t tell me you actually hurt your fist punching me?”

“What? No. Obviously I didn’t.”

“Prove it. Punch that wall.”

“No!”

“Why? ‘Cause you’re a mega dork?”

“ _You’re_ the mega dork!” Lance stood up with a huff and turned to face the nearest wall. With a cocky grin, he swung back into a terrible position for even punching a teddy bear. If Lance hadn’t hurt himself before, he would now.

Keith went to warn him, “Du-”

Lance shushed him, “I need complete silence to punch properly.”

“Du-”

“Shut up, mullet brain.” You know what? Lance would probably not get _that_ hurt.

When the taller teen’s fist met the cold metal of the wall, there was an audible crack followed by a string of, what Keith assumed was, Spanish profanity which soon switched to English and then to absolute gibberish.

“A-are you okay?” Keith asked, rushing to Lance.

Lance glared at the shorter boy, his eyes wet, “Do I look okay? I’m pretty sure I broke something.”

Keith reached forward, gently tracing the swollen knuckles. Even though his touch was beyond light, Lance inhaled sharply, snatching his hand away from Keith, “What the hell are you doing?”

Keith shook his head, “Nothing. Nothing at all. C’mon, let’s get you to the healing pods.”

§

It wouldn’t take too long for Lance’s hand to heal and the injury wasn’t even that bad, but for some reason Keith felt ridiculously guilty. It wasn’t his fault that Lance was an idiot, but it was his fault that he gave that idiot the idea to go and a punch a wall. It wasn’t even a normal wall. It was the wall of some weird castle that was somehow also a battleship. Of course Lance was gonna break his hand even if he was in the proper position to punch something. How did Keith not realize that?

He knew the answer to that question. He knew that whenever Lance was around, he couldn’t think. He could barely even breathe. His heart would beat way too fast and his whole body would feel on fire, in burning white flames. He knew that whenever Lance was around, the only thing he could focus on was that stupid oaf and his stupid sunshine smile and his stupid eyes that reminded him of everything good about the universe. And he knew that it wasn’t right.

Lance was straight and he liked girls. Lance liked girls with their curves and melodic laughter. He liked girls with sweet smiles and cute voices. Lance liked girls and Keith wasn’t a girl.

§

They had just saved a planet and were being accommodated by the royal family. No matter how many times it happened, Keith always found it weird to be pampered by royalty, but who wouldn’t be grateful after having their lives saved?

It was dinnertime and a spectacular feast had been thrown for the pilots. The inhabitants of this planet were beautiful, their skin too green to seem human, but beautiful nonetheless. Keith sat at the magnificent mahogany table, grateful for finally being able to eat actual solid food for once. Lance sat across from him, next to a rather attractive man. He was probably more than ‘rather attractive,’ but Keith was too smitten by Lance to really notice.

The man leaned in close, whispering something to Lance and suddenly that obnoxious cocky little flirtatious smirk bloomed on his face. It was the same look he gave both Allura and Nyma. Lance said something with a wink and the man’s cheeks darkened. Then the blue-eyed teen proceeded to take the man’s hand and a pressed a kiss against it.

And something just started to claw inside of Keith. He felt far more jealous than usual. Because Lance liked boys too, but before Keith’s hopes could go up just slightly, he realized that even if Lance liked boys, it didn’t mean Lance would like him. Lance still liked girls like Allura, with her grace and beauty. This man radiated grace and beauty. Lance had a type and his type was not Keith.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Keith was what Lance yearned to be. He was just perfect at everything and beating him was impossible for most people. But Lance wasn’t most people. If anyone could beat that mullethead, it would be him. He wanted to take the boy down a couple of notches. No, he didn’t. He wanted to be like that boy. He wanted to excel at whatever he faced. Lance would never admit this to anyone, but he actually kind of admired Keith. And he had no idea when that admiration turned into something more.

Actually, he does. He can pinpoint the exact moment Keith stopped being a goal and became someone he wanted to hold hands with and kiss and spend the rest of his life with. It was the moment when their eyes met while rescuing Shiro. Right after Lance introduced himself, he noticed those eyes, those beautiful amethyst eyes. Cold and guarded, but somehow still so warm. They were like two big pools of ~~grape juice~~ violet wine that Lance just wanted to swim in. The first time Lance saw Keith’s eyes, he fell in deep. Then he realized Keith apparently had no idea who he was and Lance’s heart shattered.

Lance spent most of his time at the Garrison chasing after Keith, while he wasn’t even on Keith’s radar.

They were on an Earthlike planet and Lance felt so homesick. Everyone was out and about, swimming and shopping and doing Earth things they hadn’t done in ages while Lance sat in the observation deck of the castle, thinking about his family and Earth food and rain. No matter how close this planet was to Earth, it wasn’t Earth. It just felt like some cheap knockoff and Lance couldn’t wait until they left.

“Hey.” It was Keith. Lance pushed every ounce of emotion deep into his gut and turned to look at him. Because never in a million years would he let Keith see him like this.

“What do you want, fartbreath?”

“Um―I-I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to the shopping district with me. Not because I thought you looked sad or anything. I-I just didn’t want to leave you here alone and give you a chance to wreck this place.”

 _Huh_ . Lance definitely didn’t expect that. “What do you mean _give me a chance to wreck this place_? If anyone’s gonna wreck this place, it’s gonna be you.”

“Like hell I am!” Keith’s voice didn’t have the usual venom in it and Lance was grateful because he couldn’t handle Keith being a dick today. “Anyway, do you wanna go or not?”

“Let a guy think after asking him out.”

Lance was sure he saw Keith’s cheeks turn tomato red and it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. No, it wasn’t! It was the most idiotic, stupid expression ever. Why would that mullethead blushing be cute?

“W-what? I didn’t ask you out. It was, like, an invitation to a _friendly, platonic_ outing with a _friend_.”

“A friend?” Lance repeated, “You think we’re friends?”

Keith slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes the size of saucers, “I-I mean―uh― _aren’t we_?”

“Of course we are. We’re friends.” _And that’s so fucking amazing._

Lance smiled. It was a huge smile that made his eyes crinkle and his lips look even more kissable than usual. It was unfair, really. It was unfair how that stupid smile made Keith freeze for what seemed to be an eternity.

§

They had found a nice cafe that seemed to serve this planet’s version of coffee. Well, Lance thought that until he actually tried it and it tasted like envelope glue. He didn’t want to offend anyone so he gulped it down as fast as he could. So there he sat with an empty cup across from the most beautiful boy in the entire universe. With his stupid hair and stupid eyes and stupid smile. Oh god, that stupid smile. Lance had been too lost in Keith to even notice the two girls who had approached their table until one of them spoke.

“Hey, you’re the guys who saved our planet, right?” The girl was hot. She was gray and had three eyes and tentacle arms, but she was still smoking hot. Lance turned up the charm.

“Yeah, we are and we’ll save a lot more than just a planet if you know what I mean.” Lance winked.

“ _That doesn’t even make any sense_.” Keith muttered under his breath, but Lance decided to ignore it because one of the girls actually laughed at he had said and her laugh was adorable. It wasn’t the gorgeous gray one, but the one standing behind her. She had red skin and was as buff as Shiro, but her eyes were big and her lips were full. She was so fucking cute.

“You’re really funny.” Her voice was cute as well.

“Well, thank you. Would you like to sit with us?” Lance scootched into the booth, making room for one of the girls, but secretly hoping that Keith would just stand up and come sit next to him. “I’m Lance, by the way.”

The adorable buff girl smiled as she sat down next to Lance, “I’m Estonia.”

“That’s cool. Back where I’m from Estonia is a country.”

“What’s a country?”

“It’s, like, a place?”

“Oh.” Estonia scootched closer to Lance, “It was breathtaking seeing you guys fight that beast. My favorite was the red lion. That was you, right?”

Lance glanced over at Keith who was sitting stiffly as the hot three-eyed girl was obviously flirting and she was so much smoother than Lance could ever hope to be. Lance almost interjected, but he decided not to. Because getting jealous when a ridiculously hot chick is into your friend isn’t a thing a good bro does. Lance turned back to look at Estonia.

“Actually, that was him.”

Estonia shrugged, “Well whatever, you still saved the lives of billions and that’s amazing.”

After that, Lance and Estonia started up a pretty good conversation and they hit it off. For the first time, Lance didn’t feel the need to flirt or make terrible jokes because him and Estonia just had the perfect amount of chemistry. Maybe Estonia could be the Shay to Lance’s Hunk. Just maybe. Perhaps she could even help him get over Keith, but that was unlikely.

Lance was actually really enjoying himself when he felt someone kick his knee and he knew immediately who it was. His eyes flickered towards Keith, who somehow managed to look more uncomfortable than he did before. Once Keith noticed Lance’s eyes on him, he motioned towards the gray girl. With that Lance began to tune in to what the girl was saying, but he could only hear the last couple of words of what seemed to be a long winded monologue.

“―so you wanna date?”

Lance looked back over at Keith and his eyes were pleading. Without even thinking Lance just blurted out words. “He can’t!”

The girl’s head snapped towards him as she glared at him with glowing orange eyes and the most terrifying look on her face, “Why not?”

“W-well...um,” Lance swallowed thickly and just bursted out with the first thought that popped into his head, “He can’t date you because he’s dating me and I’m ridiculously in love with him. I’m in love with how his eyes have stars in them and I’m in love with how his brows furrow whenever he writes his mission reports and I’m in love with how he eats like a panda bear. God, I love him so much.”

The girl seemed to believe Lance as the venom drained from her expression and left only guilt and regret, “Oh. I’m sorry then. I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” Lance said, “People can’t really tell at first sight.”

“I certainly couldn’t.” Estonia looked hurt and a pang of guilt hit Lance right in the heart, “I thought we had something. I guess we didn’t.” She turned to look at Keith, “I’m sorry for getting so close to your boyfriend.”

“It’s fine.” Keith’s voice sounded strained. Of course it did! Lance had just put him in the most awkward situation of all time.

The two girls left and it was just the two of them again. Lance always thought he had too much pride to apologize to the stupid mullethead about anything, but after this, he knew that their relationship would be fucked if he didn’t, “I’m sorry about that. None of what I said was even remotely true so you can relax. I just blurted out the complete nonsense my brain provided me.”

Lance was sure he saw a flash of sadness in Keith’s eyes, but it was gone too fast and he was sure he just imagined it, “I’m sorry for messing up your chances with that girl. You guys really seemed to hit it off.”

“It’s fine. I already have someone I like.” Lance bit down on his tongue just after he finished speaking. Shit. Shit. Shit. Keith wasn’t supposed to know that.

“You do? Who is it?”

“Someone back home. You don’t know him.”

“I-it’s a him?”

Fuck, why was he so bad at talking? “Yeah, Keith, you were going to find out sooner or later. I like guys. I like girls too. I’m pansexual. But I promise you, the fact that I like guys doesn’t change a thing about our rivalry or our _friendship_. Seriously, I promise.”

Keith looked down at the table, a small, sad smile on his lips, “I’m gay.”

“Y-you are?” Lance was not going to get his hopes up. Just because Keith was gay, it didn’t mean that Keith would be into him. It just meant Keith liked boys.


	3. Chapter 3

Lance had always noticed the way Keith looked at Shiro. His eyes filled with admiration and cheeks flushed rose. He noticed how when Shiro was in the room, Keith’s entire face would light up and his voice would change pitch just slightly. Now that he knew Keith was gay, it made sense. Keith was absolutely in love with Shiro. That thought made Lance feel like he had been stabbed in the heart by a sword, but he had to some to terms with it. He had to be a good friend and support his bro’s love life.

It was a day like any other. The team ate, then trained, then ate again, and then finally had some free time to do whatever they wanted. Lance was laying in bed listening to some Spanish songs on his MP3 player because he missed the language and he missed home. Most of the songs weren’t guilty pleasures, but he kept on repeating the two songs that were: Gasolina and the Macarena. He should’ve been listening to more classy music, he knew he should’ve, but the prepubescent boy inside of him was coming out and he couldn’t help it. Those two songs were just so damn addictive.

He eventually grew bored and decided to go to the common room. Everyone was already there. Well everyone besides Coran, but Coran was never around. Lance plopped down on the couch beside Hunk, “What are you working on?”

Lance’s absolute favorite person in the world, well universe, turned to look at him, smiling brightly, “Remember that planet we were on a while ago? They had vegetables! But the kitchen here doesn’t have a stove so I’m trying to design one.”

“Alone?”

“Pidge was supposed to help me, but they got caught up in another one of their projects.”

Lance rolled his eyes as he looked over at Pidge, sitting on the floor toying with some weird machinery, “Pidge!”

“What?” Annoyance burned in their eyes like the fury of a thousand suns, but Lance wasn’t gonna back down.

“Come over here and help hunk with his stove!”

“Do I gotta?”

“Duh! Food is way more important than whatever the hell you’re working on.” Lance eyed the technology, “What is that, by the way?”

“It’s a cheese gun. It shoots with people with cheese.”

“Yup. Food is definitely more important than that.”

With that Pidge got up and sat down on the other side of Hunk. They started their nerd babble and Lance knew it was his time to go. He stood up and walked over to Keith, sitting by himself on the counter. Lance pulled out a stool and sat down.

“What’s up?”

Keith didn’t respond and for a tick Lance thought that he was purposefully being ignored, but then he noticed the glaze above Keith’s eyes. He waved his hand in front of the shorter teen’s face, “Hello? Earth to Keith.”

Keith seemed to have snapped out of whatever daze he was in, “We’re not on Earth.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “Whatever. We’re somewhere. Besides, it doesn’t sound the same if you say _Castle of Lions to Keith_ , does it?”

“I guess not.”

“So what were you thinking about when you were sitting here like a doofus?”

“ _You’re_ the doofus and I wasn’t really thinking of anything. I was just kind of meditating.”

“Oh.” Lance rest his head on Keith’s thigh, not at all realizing how close his mouth was to Keith’s ~~dingdong bat~~ crotch. “I can’t ever clear my mind enough to meditate.”

“That’s so shocking.” Keith remarked in almost perfect monotone, but there was an adorable crack in his voice.

“Did you turn thirteen again?”

“Shut up. It’s not like your voice doesn’t crack.”

“It actually doesn’t. My voice stopped cracking when I was twelve.” Then Lance remembered what Keith had said about meditation, “By the way, just ‘cause I can’t clear my mind doesn’t mean I’m dumb. I just have a lot of thoughts I can’t control which means I’m being overwhelmed by my intelligence.”

Keith sniggered, “I know.”

“What?”

“I know you’re smart. I wasn’t calling you dumb. Just annoyingly talkative.”

“Oh. Thanks, I guess?”

“No problem.”

The pair continued to talk until they heard Shiro.

“Hey guys!”

Every head in the room whipped towards the center of the room where Shiro and Allura stood, hand in hand.

Shiro’s face was bright red and Allura was just beaming. “Guys, Shiro and I are dating. We actually have been for a while. We just didn’t know how to tell you. So yeah…”

It was completely silent. No one seemed surprised. Gradually the look of complete glee on Allura’s face turned into something else, “Come on guys! Say something!”

“What is there to say?” Pidge asked, “We all knew you guys were going to hook up sooner or later. Lance and I even had a bet going.”

Both Allura and Shiro glared at Lance, “What?”

Lance smiled sheepishly, shrugging, “Sorry?”

Shiro burst out laughing and Allura rolled her eyes, but cracked a smile. The moment Allura smiled, Shiro stopped laughing and looked completely enthralled by the princess. Allura took that opportunity to press a quick kiss on his lips. Staring at the scene unfold felt oddly intrusive and Lance wanted to barf from how sugar sweet the pair were. Lance turned back to look at Keith and that’s when he remembered Keith’s feelings.

“Are you okay?”

Keith looked down at him, confused, “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I know how you feel about Shiro and―”

“ _How I feel about Shiro?_ ”

“Yeah, like, how you love him?”

“Yeah, I love him. What does that have to do wi―Wait! Do you think I _romantically_ love Shiro? Dude! The guy is like a brother or maybe a dad...Whatever. Shiro’s like family to me. I can’t love family romantically. That’s creepy.”

“But I’ve seen the way you act around him. It’s really different from how you act around the rest of us.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I see him as a _dad_. Dude, just because I’m gay it doesn’t mean I’m into every hot guy who walks into my life.”

“So you admit he’s hot?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Fair point.” Lance stood up, “So, you’re fine?”

“Yeah. Honestly, you should be more worried about yourself.”

“Why?”

“Well, don’t you have a thing for Allura?”

“I used to. It was just a tiny little crush. I have crushes on everyone I meet.” It took a Lance a hot minute to realize what he had just implicated, “Except for you. I never had a crush on you.”

Keith scowled down at Lance before proceeding to jumping off the counter. He bumped his shoulder roughly against Lance’s as he walked out of the common room leaving Lance feeling guilt. He probably shouldn’t have said that. Keith was probably lying about his feelings about Shiro and was completely heartbroken on the inside. Lance shouldn’t have been such a dick right after it.

§

Keith lay in bed, his head buried in his pillow. Lance had a crush on everyone he met. Except for Keith. Just how much did Lance hate him before they became friends? Wait. Did Lance even think they were friends? He was so shocked when Keith had said it before. He probably only agreed to it because he didn’t want to make things awkward between them. But then Keith remembered the smile Lance flashed him after admitting they were friends. That stupid smile that was like a beam of pure sunshine with his stupid kissable lips and perfectly misaligned teeth. That stupid smile was too fucking stupid to be fake. Lance _did_ think they were friends.

Keith found comfort in the fact that Lance didn’t seem to hate him anymore and for a moment he felt perfectly content. Then he remembered how Lance’s head had just been resting on his thigh, dangerously close to his ~~peewee~~ crotch and Keith’s entire body felt like it were on fire. Lance was a touchy-feely person with everyone and Keith knew that, but for some reason it made him burn up whenever Lance touched him. It didn’t have to be anything big. A simple a stroke of the arm or accidentally bumping knees did the trick. But he wanted more. Not too much more, but more. He wanted to hold hands and hug and cuddle and kiss. Keith noticed how often Lance would stare at his hair and he would never admit this to anyone, but if Lance asked, he’d probably let him style his hair. Lance’s fingers were long and his hands were warm from what Keith remembered. They’d probably feel amazing on his scalp.

God, he was whipped.


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey, remember that time I saved your ass by messing up a potential relationship with one of the cutest girls I’ve ever met?”

Keith shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, I have a way you can make it up to me.” Lance draped an arm across Keith’s shoulders, getting uncomfortably close to him. Keith could smell Lance. He didn’t smell like he used to. He still smelled like gasoline and sweat, but instead of smelling like oceanic cologne, he smelled like lemon. Just pure lemon and Keith didn’t know which scent he preferred. Either way, he loved it.

“How?”

“So there’s this guy who I think is into me and I want to make him jealous by having you pretend to be my boyfriend.”

 _That’s a terrible plan_. And under normal circumstances, Keith wouldn’t have even considered it, but Keith was hopelessly in love with Lance and this was probably the closest he would ever get to Lance ever. “Why me?”

“Other than the fact that you already owe me a favor? Well, I respect Shiro and Allura’s relationship way too much to ask either of them. Pidge would kill me if I asked them. Coran and I aren’t really believable as a couple. And Hunk is, well, Hunk. He’s too nice looking to make my plan believable.”

That wasn’t the answer Keith wanted. He didn’t expect Lance to say something about they have good chemistry or look good together or whatever, but it still hurt to basically be Lance’s last resort. “And your plan is?”

“Okay, so you and I pretend we’re in a super lovey-dovey relationship so the guy gets really jealous and then you reveal that you cheated on me or whatever and I get super sad and the guy feels bad for me and he tries to comfort me and kablam.” Lance was waving his arms about, making wild gestures as he talked. He had a habit of talking with his hands and Keith found it ridiculously endearing. “So what do you think?”

 _God, this is the shittiest plan he’s ever heard_. “It’s fine. I’ll do it”

§

The guy turned out to be the son of the couple who were hosting them. His name was Stost and he was alright looking. He was definitely enamored by Lance. His eyes would just start sparkling whenever Lance did _anything_. It was disgusting. They were currently being shown around the town and decided to have a picnic at a ‘park’ filled with rocks and sand and tumbleweed. It reminded Keith too much of the desert that was his home, but he didn’t really miss it. He wasn’t like the others. He didn’t really have any ties to Earth. No family, no nothing. His only material positions were the clothes on his back and that shack back on Earth.

“So Keith, how long have you guys been dating?” Stost was sitting beside Lance, leaning in way too close. Wasn’t _Keith_ supposed to be Lance’s boyfriend? _Pretend boyfriend_ he had to remind himself.

“Um―three or four months now?”

“Oh, that isn’t too long.” Stost wasn’t even trying to hide that he was into Lance. Ever since they started the tour, he’s just been staring at Lance, probably falling deeper and deeper for those perfect blue eyes and the perfect sunshine smile. “And you guys don’t really seem that close either.”

“We are,” said Lance, scootching away from Stost and closer to Keith. Lance intertwined their fingers and pulled Keith’s head into the crook of his neck. _God, this was so unfair._ Keith could feel his face getting warmer and he just hoped Lance wouldn’t notice. “Isn’t that right, honeybear?”

“Y-yeah, _sweetiepie_.” Keith knew he didn’t sound even remotely believable and rushed to add, “We haven’t been dating for long, but we have the―uh―best love story of all time.”

“We do?”

Keith nodded, wrapping an arm around Lance’s waist. “Yeah, don’t you remember how we met?”

“Of course I do.”

“Oh, can I hear this so-called best love story of all time?” _Stost, that bastard._

Keith wasn’t good at lying. He didn’t really have to lie too often. However, he was a quick learner and he had to come up with the most amazing love story of all time in, like, a couple of seconds. He racked his brain until it hit him.

“Yeah, sure. So I was a poor orphaned boy living with my cruel, abusive stepmother and Lance was a rich heir. He threw a party and invited, like, a lot of people and I went, behind my stepmother’s back. He saw me and it was just love at first sight. We danced and talked and stuff and by then we were both deeply, madly in love. Then I left because it was midnight and it was―um―my curfew, but I left my shoe behind on accident. So Lance picked up my shoe and he had no idea what my name was or where I lived or if I was even real and not a hallucination, but he wanted to find me. Then an idea struck him: he could go to the houses of every person who came to his party and make them try on the shoe to see if it fits. My house was the last house he visited, but I wasn’t there because my stepmother locked up in the attic and instead, she made my stepbrothers try on the shoe. It didn’t fit. Then some mice helped me escape the attic and I rushed down just in time. So I tried the shoe on and it fit and we lived happily ever after.”

Lance stiffened. He was trying so incredibly hard not to guffaw. He had to bite down on his lip and just stay completely still or he knew he’d burst out laughing.

“I didn’t know humans had distinctive foot sizes.” Stost said, the look on his face incredulous.

“Well, we do. How else would me leaving a shoe behind help Lance find me?”

Stost shrugged as he stood up, “I think I’m gonna go and get a drink of water.”

“Okay, bye.” Lance flashed Stost a giant smile and there was just this black oozy feeling in the pit of Keith’s stomach and he just wished it would go away. Once the two paladins were left alone, Lance let go and just laughed. His laughter sounded so warm and melodic and childlike and it felt like Keith fell in love all over again. “Really dude, _Cinderella_ ? You could’ve at least tried _Romeo and Juliet_.”

“And how did you expect me to fit in us both killing ourselves?”

“You don’t fit it in. Just like how you didn’t fit in your magical fairy godmother.”

“I actually almost did, but cut myself off before I could say anything. I probably should have cut out the mice too.”

“You think?”

The rest of the day went by decently. Stost was just flirting with Lance half the time and Lance was doing the same. Keith felt like the third wheel even though he was supposed to be the one dating Lance. Stost was supposed to be the damn third wheel. So maybe it was the feeling of being left out what caused Keith to do what he did next. Or maybe it was the jealousy. Definitely the jealousy.

They were on their way back to their host’s home when Keith tugged on Lance’s sleeve. When Lance turned to look at him, Keith put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. That was Keith’s first kiss and he had no idea what he was doing, so he quickly pulled away.

Lance’s face was flushed and he looked so fucking adorable, “W-what was that?”

“Um...it was a goodbye kiss because I cheated on you and wanted to have one last kiss.”

There was a long moment of silence where no one said anything and everyone was frozen. That is until Lance placed a warm hand on Keith’s shoulder. “It happened only once, right?”

Keith nodded, not knowing where this was going.

“And you weren’t thinking straight?”

Keith nodded again, still utterly confused.

Lance sighed, wrapping his arms around Keith in a warm embrace, “Then I’ll give you one more chance.”

What the hell?! This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t the plan Lance told Keith. Why the fuck was Lance going off plan? Did Lance find Stost as infuriatingly annoying as Keith did? Yeah, that was probably it.

§  
  
Why did Lance fuck up his plan? Keith gave him the perfect out. Lance could’ve gotten angry and then sad and then cried into Stost’s shoulder. And Stost would’ve let him because Stost was so obviously into him. It was perfect, but Lance fucked it up because Keith had just kissed him and his brain just stopped working. _Keith_ had just kissed him. It was a terrible kiss. Clanky and clumsy and Keith had no idea what to do with his tongue, but god, it was a kiss from _Keith_ , the stupidest mulletbrain in the entire universe. Lance’s lips were still tingling and he could still taste Keith’s weird honey-like flavor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you guys think? Please leave me some feedback, I sometimes feel like my writing is too technical and I'd like some other people's opinions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the sweet comments. I've been having a really crap week and they helped a lot.

Lance’s best friend in the entire universe was Hunk, the sweetest most amazing human being that ever lived. Lance’s other best friend was Pidge, a genius who could probably cure every disease in the universe if they wanted to. Lance knew he was fucking lucky and he also knew that both his best friends were crap at giving love advice, but they were the only ones Lance could talk to.

“I may or may not have a teensy weensie crush on Keith.”

Pidge snorted, “You mean you have a massive ginormous crush on Keith?”

“What? No...it’s just a small crush.”

Hunk clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “It’s a pretty big crush, dude.”

“But it’s not.” Both of Lance’s closest dearest friends gave him a knowing look and Lance sighed, “Okay, whatever it’s an  _ averagely _ sized crush.”

Pidge rolled their eyes, “So, anyway, why’d you call us here?”

“Well, I like Keith and being around him makes my stomach hurt and I don’t know what to do.”

“Just tell him you like him.” Hunk didn’t even have to think.

“No...it’s gonna mess up our whole relationship and I’m pretty sure he’s still heartbroken over Shiro.”

“Why would he be heartbroken over Shiro?”

Before Lance could answer, Pidge cut in, “Lance, you don’t actually think that Keith is in love with Shiro?”

Lance shrugged and Pidge heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing their temple, “Shiro is like a brother to everyone. Especially to Keith. If Keith was actually in love with Shiro, it would be gross and incestuous.”

“But have you seen the way he looks at Shiro?”

“You look at Shiro the same way!”

“I don’t. Do I? What do you think, Hunk?”

Hunk smiled apologetically, “You look at Shiro the same way Keith does. Both of you guys have stars in your eyes whenever Shiro’s around.”

“Oh...so Keith was never in love with Shiro?”

“Of course not.” Pidge looked annoyed beyond belief. “So now that we got that out of the way; can you just go and tell Keith that you want to be his boyfriend?”

“I don’t want to be his stupid boyfriend.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I just want to be with him. All the time. I want to hear about his day and tell him about mine. I want to hold his hand and smell his hair. But I  _ don’t _ want to be his stupid boyfriend.”

Hunk began laughing while Pidge just rolled their eyes, pretending to hurl. “You just described a relationship. A really mushy relationship at that.”

“Seriously, bro, just tell Keith you like him.”

§  
  


Keith remembered when he first came out to Shiro. He couldn’t say a single word and just sat there, shaking in fear of losing his only friend. Shiro just waited patiently for him to steady his nerves. Keith inhaled and exhaled and inhaled and exhaled until it didn’t feel like his soul was gonna leave his body. He sat up straight and turned to look directly into Shiro’s kind, waiting eyes.

“Shiro, I have something really important to tell you.”

“What is it?” Shiro’s voice was gentle and there was a soft smile on his lips.

Keith closed his eyes and breathed in and out and in and out, reminding himself that he was talking to Shiro who would accept him no matter what. “I’m gay.”

There was a pause that probably wasn’t too long, but to Keith it seemed to last an eternity. Then Shiro smiled, “Hi Gay. I’m Shiro.”

Keith smacked Shiro on the shoulders and walked away, a small smile on his lips because he was so incredibly relieved.

That was the first and last time Keith thought he would have to come out. But then he came out to Lance. It wasn’t as hard as coming out to Shiro. Especially after Lance came out to him as pan. But there was still a certain amount of trust there. Trust Keith didn’t think he had for Lance (or anyone), but he did and that made him feel something inside, something strong and deafening and never before had he felt more in love. But Lance wasn’t interested in him. Lance liked some guy back on Earth. Some guy who was probably much better suited to be with Lance than Keith ever could be.

So after thinking about the likelihood of ever having Lance like him back, Keith decided to try and get completely over the boy with the sunshine smile who could make any room light up. Because Lance would never love him back, Lance would never be Keith’s, and Keith knew he should just stop liking one of his only friends. But getting over someone you’re so ridiculously in love with is fucking hard and Keith can’t do it but he knows he has to.

§

“Yo, Keith, pretend my pants are France and you’re Hitler.” Lance regretted what he said immediately after the words left his mouth, but he was not going to let that show at all. He winked, pointing finger guns at Keith.

“I don’t understand.”

“Like, I’m France and you’re gonna invade me...do you get it now?”

Keith shook his head, glaring at Lance, “Do you do this on purpose?”

“Do what?”

“Do  _ this _ ! You know that I’m bad with stuff like this, but you keep on saying stuff I don’t understand. I know you know it makes me feel stupid. Do you really like making me feel dumb that much?”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Keith was supposed to laugh at that terrible pick up line and call Lance an idiot. Then after talking for a bit, Lance would ease into telling him that he liked him and then Keith’s reaction would come. Lance had it all planned out. It was not supposed to go like this. How the hell did he manage to fuck this up?

“I’m sorry. I was ju―”

“I don’t care.” Keith stood up and muttered something under his breath. “사랑해.”

“What did you say?”

“사랑해,” Keith repeated.

“What does that mean?”

“It means fuck you.”

With that, Keith left the room, leaving Lance feeling like a complete piece of shit even though he was sure he did nothing wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if you're a Shieth shipper and if what Pidge said rubbed you the wrong way. Also, I love How I Met Your Mother and that scene with Barney and Lily was absolutely adorable so that's why I used a lot of the dialogue. And finally 사랑해 means "I love you." I think. My knowledge of Korean comes solely from kpop so just tell me if I'm wrong. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please leave some feedback if you want to. :)


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